MILFORD – Current Deputy Fire Chief William Touhey, soon to take the top job when his brother retires in May, talked at Monday night's Selectmen's meeting about his plans for the future of the department, including a renewed focus on training and increased inspectional capacity.

After current Chief John Touhey announced his plans to retire last month after serving within the department for 35 years and as chief since 2001, selectmen said they planned to replace the outgoing chief with his older brother.

William Touhey has served as deputy fire chief since 2001 and has been with the department since the early 1980s. His official appointment is still pending contract negotiations, which are ongoing, but selectmen wanted to meet with Touhey to get his view on the future of the department.

“Right now we're at a stage of transition,” said Touhey, noting not only the retirement of the chief, but of many others in the department.

Touhey said that a quarter of the department has less than two years of experience and there are nine with less than a year.

“The training position has been a bit of a revolving door as of late because of retirements,” Touhey said. “I'm looking to get back into the routine of training everyday and getting the young kids up to speed and get them going.”

Inspectional services are another area Touhey said he was hoping to strengthen.

“Lt. (Mark) Nelson does a great job, but he's almost overburdened,” Touhey said. “If we had another inspector we could expand that into places that are falling between the cracks.”

Touhey also said he'd like to see more outreach with both senior citizens and in the schools, if possible.

Selectmen asked Touhey about what he felt should be done with the emergency management position, currently held by the fire chief.

“I'm not as familiar as the present chief is, but I'll work with that,” Touhey said. “I would like to keep it in the current department.”

All three selectmen continued to express their confidence in Touhey taking over the job.

“You've been there long enough to understand the needs, you're intelligent enough to give the guidance it needs and you can work on the areas that you might not feel as strong or comfortable in,” said Selectman Brian Murray. “I'm fully confident with you leading department forward.”

Contact Lindsay Corcoran at 508-634-7582 or lcorcoran@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @LacorcMDN.